Ab exercises that won't hurt hips?

Cudleigh

This is for my dad, He's 52. He works out consistently (every other day, I believe).

Problem is: he experiences pain in his hips when he works out his abs. He asked a doctor about it and was basically told "if it hurts, don't do it". I'm looking for either ab exercises that don't involve his hips or any advice on how to minimize this pain. He's tried stretching but says it doesn't do anything to help.

Any help would be much appreciated!

rmdaly

Try going to see a physical therapist for a second opinion. The therapist should also be able to recommend exercises to help with the problem.

BeantownSooner

I was going to write a more wordy post offering some suggestions but thankfully I had a "give some examples" moment and did a quick search. In my opinion, more often than not pain in a certain area is often referred pain. This is even more common in the core area as there are so many different muscles that are intertwined to stabilize our core and more importantly facilitate motion. A great example of this is lower back pain. In many cases it isn't an actual back issue but rather tight or even shortened muscles where the pain is referred to the back area. Now, I'm no doctor but when I've ever checked in on my lower back pain he's always recommended I work on the surrounding areas so this may be applicable for the hip area as well. Doing very simple exercises such as the ones in the attached link might do him a world of good. As he strengthens and increases the flexibility in his core he may find relief from any pain. Just tell him to do these at home!

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/PDFs/Rehab_Hip_3.pdf

katro111

My hip flexors tend to cramp up if I do ab exercises after I do leg exercises. Stretching helps as well as doing abs first and/or doing ab exercises while keeping my knees bent. For crunches and the like, my heels have to be a certain distance away from my body to avoid the cramp.

Cudleigh

Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to let him know.

steve0820

This is for my dad, He's 52. He works out consistently (every other day, I believe).

Problem is: he experiences pain in his hips when he works out his abs. He asked a doctor about it and was basically told "if it hurts, don't do it". I'm looking for either ab exercises that don't involve his hips or any advice on how to minimize this pain. He's tried stretching but says it doesn't do anything to help.

Any help would be much appreciated!

What workouts is giving pain to be exact? is it leg raises, sit ups, crunches, plank, since he noticed hip pain? Stretching doesn't help pain, make sure he is properly warmed up, and any core isolation exercises are done at the end of the workout and not the beginning. Also, like someone already suggested, make sure the surrounding areas are being worked and not neglected. A good example from the previous poster, talked about lower back pain and how its not the lower back causing the issue. That is very true, lower back, many area's need to be address. The whole trunk, back and core, and also, hams and glutes.

chrisdavey

isometrics sounds like the go. Planks, side planks etc. GOogle for how to make them more difficult.

fit ball crunches are pretty good too and no hip movement.